in the Piazza were exclusively foreigners, or else the families of such
government officials as were obliged to show themselves there. Last
summer, however, before the Franco-Italian convention for the evacuation
of Rome revived the drooping hopes of the Venetians, they had begun
visibly to falter in their long endurance. But this was, after all, only a
slight and transient weakness. As a general thing, now, they pass from the
Piazza when the music begins, and walk upon the long quay at the sea-side
of the Ducal Palace; or if they remain in the Piazza they pace up and down
under the arcades on either side; for Venetian patriotism makes a delicate
distinction between listening to the Austrian band in the Piazza and
hearing it under the Procuratie, forbidding the first and permitting the
last. As soon as the music ceases the Austrians disappear, and the
Italians return to the Piazza.

But since the catalogue of demonstrations cannot be made full, it need not
be made any longer. The political feeling in Venice affects her prosperity
in a far greater degree than may appear to those who do not understand how
large an income the city formerly derived from making merry. The poor have
to lament not merely the loss of their holidays, but also of the fat
employments and bountiful largess which these occasions threw into their
hands. With the exile or the seclusion of the richer families, and the
reluctance of foreigners to make a residence of the gloomy and dejected
city, the trade of the shopkeepers has fallen off; the larger commerce of
the place has also languished and dwindled year by year; while the cost of
living has constantly increased, and heavier burdens of taxation have been
laid upon the impoverished and despondent people. And in all this, Venice
is but a type of the whole province of Venetia.

The alien life to be found in the city is scarcely worth noting. The
Austrians have a _casino_, and they give balls and parties, and now